Talk:Saqqara (Pharaoh)
Edit Hi! An editor recently made this edit to the page. It is a good edit and includes some very useful information, but some of it is a little buried under the extraneous mission strategy details. I wonder if we can make a list here of the parts you included so we can try to build it into the existing content :) --''Saju '' 09:54, May 29, 2017 (UTC) :It might be a good idea to add a separate stratergy section. Currently the summary is just a big mish mash of stratergy (eg wall in the hyenas, which gold mines to use etc) and general information. It is also written in quite a common/personal tone and could potentially be condensed. Hence I did not think adding more details would particularly be out of place. :Anyway here is a brief summary of map specific information that is missing that was included with my revision. This is with all strategy parts removed (player can decide what to make of it, no solutions). * There is a small gold vein on the east island, enough for 3-4 gold mines. * There is a periodic event to collapse gold mines. It seems to bias mines placed to the north west as the same mine collapsed multiple times, both personal experience and in a YouTube play through. * The hyena spawn is limited. It can be permanently shut down by killing enough of them quickly. * This is the first map the player can develop houses up to Spacious Manor level due to availability of the Mortuary. * Everything but food must be imported either as raw materials or directly using trade. * A bridge site exists between the main island and the middle island. * Trade ships come from the south of the river. The nearest dock site is far away towards the middle of the map. (important knowledge for efficient water trade) * Land traders go from south to north across the kingdom road. The distance of the road is long so land trade efficiency is quite limited. (important knowledge for efficient land trade) * Requests appear reasonably predictable going Game Meat early game, Stone (a few times? I forget) and late game Luxury Goods. The Game Meat and Stone were witnessed both personally on Normal and also in a YouTube play through of the mission on Hard as well as all 3 mentioned in the various old walkthroughs so there is some consistency. * The burial goods can be dispatched before Pyramid completion. Doing so will mean the mission can potentially end within 1 month of completing the Pyramid (when the Monument Rating updates). * The burial goods consisted of pottery, linen, wood, granite and papyrus. * There is no military at all. * Village Palace and Personal Mansion are available. (last mission was City Palace and Family Mansion, at least for the peaceful choice) * Wages will fall, potentially multiple times. * This mission is a tutorial/practice map for players to get used to pyramid construction, meadow farming, manufacturing cities and manor housing. :Here is a list of strategy tips that might be useful to completing the mission. Unlike above, these suggest how the player could play the mission and win. Some might consider these spoilers, others might find doing something else more effective. These are mainly for people who are completely clueless or do not want to have to restart due to making a big mistake. * One can wall in the hyenas at map start with small statues. Later one can force them to run a gauntlet through a police filled road to escape which will kill them and eventually shut the spawn down. Either solution will render them harmless. * Place the village palace to the north of the oasis as close to the north gold vein as possible. Do not bother with the gold vein on the east island as although it could be harvested at full efficiency it will probably net in less income due to being smaller than the less efficient north vein. * For population requirements either 2 large or 3 medium housing blocks will suffice. These could be placed centrally around the oasis or scattered along the river front depending on personal play style. * Place the pyramid and a work camp right at the map start. Preparing the base takes a long time so starting early is recommended. * While the base of the pyramid is being prepared, focus on developing housing and industry to meet the other requirements. * Start hunting food industry as soon as all gold mines are fully operational. There is an early request for game meat and it has a short time limit. Game meat can only fulfil the request in a store house but can be stored in a granary until needed. * Use the bridge to the middle island to improve hunting efficiency by opening up the heard located there. * To keep prosperity high, over produce goods from imported raw materials and export the excess. * Gold mine income is not enough to construct the Pyrmaid at a reasonable rate and employ the required 3,500 people. One will have to boost income with taxes and exports. * Most of the burial goods should be easily fulfilled on the way to developing housing up to levels such as Fancy Residence. Wood has to be imported anyway for carpenters. Only granite has to be specially imported. * If unemployment is a problem, upgrade some houses to Spacious Manor as they generate no workers and a lot of tax. * Once reasonably developed, work on speeding up pyramid construction with more work camps (base) or more stonemasons (stone work). 1-2 carpenter guild should be sufficient for the ramps. * As the pyrmaid progresses one can throttle back plain stone and stonemasons to redistribute the workers to other industries or as people in Spacious Manors. * Although the mission is possible using hunting as the only food source, it is recommended to build meadow farms for a second food source and to get used to meadow farm construction for later missions. * Throwing festivals to Bast with sufficient temple support can cause her to bless you with a festival to all gods, saving on festival costs. * Late game you will be asked for a few units of Luxury Goods. These can either be imported directly or manufactured from imported gems (or free gems from a Thoth blessing). In any case it is recommended to build up a reserve of 800 units odd. It is possible to win before this request occurs if one plays efficiently. * Due to the low efficiency trader routes and the potential amount of trading that has to be done it is recommended to highly optimize trade throughput. For land traders import/export directly on the kingdom road to maximize throughput. Make sure the dock workers only have to walk a few tiles to import/export. ::Thanks very much for this detailed overview! I will go through this at some point and try to integrate some of this into the article. We like to keep the strategy section fairly brief, as we're more of a "hints and tips" for what a player can expect to find in a mission, rather than explaining every minutia of detail, since for a game like this, such details would create the illusion that only one strategy matters :P ::Again, thanks so much for providing this comprehensive breakdown! I didn't expect it, actually! :) --''Saju '' 10:44, May 30, 2017 (UTC)